Customer Reviews

Presents the Carnival Featuring the Refugee Allstars

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For those of you who liked the Refugees first couple of albums, this album is great! Wyclef's songs are all great from beginning to the end, and the short interludes are funny. The first 21 songs (with the exception of track 13) are in english and it's sort of a hip-hop funky style of music in which his Refugee All Stars play. Tracks 13, 22-24 are in Haitian Creole which i thought to be really cool to listen to. Overall I think this album is a great buy and it of course includes his trademark songs of "We tryin' to stay Alive", "Guantanamera", and "Gone till November." (Sorry, you have to buy the CD single in order to get his different "rap" version). I don't recommend listening to just his popular songs which many people do because if you listen to some of his other songs, they're really great! Now all you have to do is buy it and let your ears do all the work!

I am not a fan of rap or hip-hop music. I like a wide range of music--Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Bob Marley, Coldplay, The Cure, The Who, Beastie Boys, Janis Joplin, etc.

Wyclef's updated version of "Stayin' Alive" was so catchy, so addictive, and so fresh that it made me want to buy the CD. I'm so glad I did.

Before buying this CD, I thought Wyclef Jean was a rap or hip artist. But in this CD, Wyclef Jean transcends musical categories. He fuses together reggae, Caribbean music, rap, hip-hop, and other genres. His music is funky, political, and soulful. The CD contains ballads, unique instrumental blends, raps, and dance-your-ass off tunes.

Although I don't speak Creole (Haitian Creole), his songs in Creole have beautiful melodies and vocal accompaniments.

The lyrics are brilliant. He sings about political strife in Haiti: famine, gunfire, revenge, and Haitians immigrating to the USA by sea in rafts. And some of his lyrics aren't profound, but funky and fun.

I bought this CD four or five years ago, and still love it. I pull it out every month or two. Each time I re-play the CD, it kicks ass as much as it did the first time I listened to it. The CD is an old friend. It's evolved. I've smoked [...] while listening to the CD, roadtripped to it, danced to it, worked out to it, and just simply listened to it alone or with friends while chilling out in the living room.

It is a great CD and Wyclef is a fabulous artist. Unlike a lot of other artists, he has something to say, and he sings it well.

This LP is seven years old ya'll. I still listen to it. It's one of those CD's that you just can't let dust collect on. Wyclef may not be the best lyricist, or even have the best flow, but it's the whole package he presents in this LP that brings it all together. The beats are tight, the guest appearances are tasteful, and hey even the jokes and skits are funny. Gone till November rightfully won awards. We tryin' to stay alive was fun as hell. But the other tracks on there are what makes the album worth buying. Don't sleep ya'll. Amazing.
Best tracks:
Gone till November, Tryin to stay alive, Guantanamera, and Year of the Dragon (Lauryn Hill is Viscous on that joint)
Enjoy

Solid five stars. There are so many solid songs on this album, it is just unbelievable.

Some background: I have cherished the Fugees' album The Score as one of the greatest musical achievements of pop music. Unfortunately, the Fugees broke up, and Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill branched off into solo careers. The brightest example of that Fugees heritage is this very album. If you have not heard Fugees, you should get The Score, it preps you for this masterpiece.

The lyrics and the beats are super tight. The interlude skits will be familiar to Fugees fans. While the Fugees were a little more laid back and emphasized mellody over beats, here rhythm is the king.

I will not get into the specific songs etc because others have commented already. This is an amazing album, and Wyclef puts most other rappers to shame with this gem. You ought to hear this.

This cd from wyclef is a good cd. I had this from a while back and it's still good. Fans and Non-fans of the fugges should check this out because it's a couple people on this u might not know is on. People like lauryn Hill, John forte, pras, G+B(the product), Jeeni fujita and others help to keep it hot. Check for Jeeni fujita in the future...shes about to blow up. The cd starts off with a intro skit that sounds like a commercial for a movie. All the skits are funny and they play through this cd like a movie. All the skits are in court and are about wyclef proving that hes good and not a "Playa", "Thug", etc. The best tracks here are: 2,3,5,7,9(This one is tight and should have been a single),10(another tight one. This is a true story if u listen close to the lyrics),13(This song is in french and has Lauryn Hill singing a tight verse and if u listen to the whole song u learn what it means at the end. lauryn explains in english), This is a cool slow jam with Aaron neville,18(Classic party jam mixing old school with the new).

Overall this is a good solo cd from wyclef and I think he did good even though he had a lot of guests. The guests don't over shadow him and by the time your done you will know something about where he is from. Lauryn and Wyclef did good and are still doing good solo. I don't know if pras will ever get to their level. It would be good to see the fugees reunite but since they all are at different levels now..I guess it's history. Check out wyclefs new one coming out in June, but until then this is something to listen to. he might suprise you with a couple cuts here because he mixes it all up slow jam, fast, hip-hop , reggae and everything.

If u never been to a carnival, then here is a good start.

The Carnival posesses possibly the most creative musical production of any Hip Hop album during the 90s. It's not a surprise because of Wyclef Jean's diverse musical outings, from hip hop, Latin American, reggae, haitian, calypso, rock, and everything in between. I can't say if there is any large Hip Hop star that has the cultural insightfulness and diversity that Wyclef has. Being Caribbean myself I'm in love for the fact that he has patios lyricism displayed here. I would love to see him team up with France's superhero MC Solaar. The album is less serious than the Score, which it is otherwise a general follow-up, including a more comical feel. But this isn't to say this is 3feet High and Rising Part II, it's got it's share of introspective and serious topics. Overall it's a masterpiece, however I took a five star away because I am convince that Wyclef Jean was holding back. He could have included more intellectual lyrics on the album than he did. Otherwise, if you want the ultimate Hip Hop collection then you MUST own this album.

The Carnival is overtly creative. Whether this grinds for you (a lot of his material can be regarded as pretentious) or you just listen to his allusions, ironic guest artists, and enjoy them for what they are, defines whether you can enjoy this CD. His rhymes are certainly a pleasure to listen to, Wyclef plays with his listener, he is eloquent and educated, alluding to all sorts of topics not normally associated with the rap world. He utilises all sorts of samples, the Jeopardy theme in "Street Jeopardy", and he raps with the Neville Brothers in "Mona Lisa." The single, "We Trying to Stay Alive", is hard hitting, building almost perfectly on the original BeeGees tune. In between all these are skits attacking the gangsta rap ethic. As for Wyclef's relationship with the other members of the Fugees, for all intents and purposes The Carnival -is- a Fugee's record, Lauryn Hill plays as forward a part on Wyclef's album as she did on The Score.

I'm not a big hip-hop fan, staying closer to the alternative rock music I listened to in high school and college most of the time, but this album has blown me away. Every song is thoughtful and gets my body moving. Wyclef is a talent to be reckoned with and I can't wait to hear his next album.

Sleep if you want to, but this Wyclef album is almost classic material. There are some suspect joints that kept this album from reaching that status, but this LP is still a VERY strong album. Wyclef has a style that's all his own. This album has it all. This CD contains radio friendly smash singles like "We Trying To Stay Alive", "Gone 'Til November", and "Anything Can Happen". Cleff follows those songs up with meaningful tracks like "Gunpowder", "Bubblegoose", and "Year of The Dragon" feat. Lauryn Hill. There are even songs like "Sang Fezi", Jaspora", and "Yele" that are done in Creole instead of english. Though you might not understand the language, there's no mistaking the vibe you get from these songs. Even skits and interludes like "Killer MC" and "Pablo Diablo" are some of the funniest I've ever heard. The rest of the songs may not be as out of this world as the aforementioned tracks, but they are still tight nonetheless. Tracks like "To All The Girls" and "Street Jeopardy" are near classic tunes that are well deserving of all the praise they get. The LP even features a promising newcomer named John Forte. He rips "Street Jeopardy". It's too bad that he ended up in jail on some bogus isht. Anyway, there are a few shortcomings on the album though. Tracks like "Mona Lisa" feat. Aaron Neville and "Carnival" aren't completely terrible, but they come off as boring and skippable. They don't really seem to belong with the rest of these songs. But that's a very small complaint. The album is definitely one more hit short of a masterpiece. I would reccomend this CD to anyone. Go and pick it up if you haven't already.

Standout Tracks: Street Jeopardy feat. John Forte & R.O.C., Jaspora (My Favorite), Year Of The Dragon feat. Lauryn Hill, We Tryin' To Stay Alive feat. Pras & John Forte, Gunpowder (Another Favorite), Bubblegoose, To All The Girls, and Gone 'Til November

When the Fugees hit big with 'The Score' they all got a chance to launch successful solo carreer's. Lauren Hill got both immediate reviewer and public success with 'The miseducation of ..', Pras got great sales with his project 'Ghetto Superstar' and Wyclef got almost no attention with 'The Carnival', except from the song 'Gone 'til November'.

When it comes to judging these debut records, Wyclef wins in all aspects: Wyclef knowns how to build a good melody up, and he knows how to mix genres, he delivers his rhymes with an ease that seems rare, and even though they aren't always the smoothest, they are never bad. On some songs Wyclef sings wholeheartedly as you would only expect it from Stevie Wonder, and on others he is joking as a mild version version of ODB. The versatile rapstar switches with ease between rap, singing and brilliant guest performances. Wyclef's debut album certainly keeps it's listening value whereas the hit records of Pras and Lauren are easily forgotten.

I see two reasons the later Wyclef albums doesn't reach the level of 'The Carnival'. 1: It seems that he has spend a lot more time and energy on melodies 'The Carnival'. 2: In 'The Carnival' Wyclef keeps an ironic distance to the ganster attitude in the MTV hip-hop culture. Later he adopts this attitude and that certainly doesn't suit him: It takes the heart out of his music. He has got to lose the ganster attitude completely if he wants make an album at the level of this.

"It's got to be more gangster, more powerful, more drugs." Wyclef says on Carnival. I disagree on all three.